Adventure Time hits the slopes in a super-addictive mobile game

The original Ski Safari has long been one of the most-played games on my iPad.

While I enjoy the complexity and depth of titles like XCOM Enemy Unknown and Infinity Blade, this addictive little endless runner - or should that be endless skier? - made by Brisbane-based Defiant Development keeps me coming back again and again when I have a few minutes spare.

Its simplicity is a major part of why it works. You play as a skier, hurtling down an endless, randomly-generated mountainside only seconds ahead of a bone-crushing avalanche. It will catch up with you eventually, but a high score is achieved by outrunning your inevitable fate for as long as possible.

Using a simple touch-to-jump control scheme, you will need to hop over rocks, safely navigate caves, and get huge air off the steep hilltops and sheer cliffs. You are assisted by an odd assortment of animals - penguins, eagles, wolves, and even yetis - who will carry you to (relative) safety and gain you precious seconds.

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Last month, in my interview with Defiant creative director Morgan Jaffitt, it was revealed that they were working on a new version of Ski Safari, based around the cult cartoon series Adventure Time. Shortly before Christmas, this new edition arrived on my iPad, and I was addicted all over again.

The core gameplay is pretty much unchanged, which is a good thing. Instead of an anonymous skier, you control the show's hero, Finn. Input is the same: tap the screen to jump, and hold to attempt a backflip (which must be landed safely to avoid a crash).

As for the companions you meet in your rush down the mountain, only one has stayed on from the original: the penguins. Finn's weird yellow dog Jake is the most common helper that will give Finn a lift down the mountain, but you can also hitch a ride with the Lumpy Space Princess, the Ice King, Lady Rainicorn, and more.

Rather than a boring old snowy mountain, the scenery has also changed. The default level is set in Candyland, and the avalanche you are fleeing is made of bright pink fairy floss. In one of the game's many cute details, Jake the dog eats the fairy floss as he slides along it. However, picking up coins as you play will eventually unlock two new levels: Ice Kingdom and Mysterious Mountain. These coins can also be used to unlock characters, costumes, and other bonus items.

It's the production values that really make this game special. The attention to detail is phenomenal, especially the character animation, and there are so many little jokes and easter eggs for fans of the show that it's impossible to list them all. What sounds like the entire voice cast of the cartoon is featured in the game, spouting endless quotable one-liners, and the music is also lifted straight from the show.

This is a licensed mobile game done right. Defiant are clearly fans of the show, and have taken the time and worked closely with the cartoon's creators to craft something that other fans will adore. Add in the perfectly-tuned Ski Safari gameplay and you have something fun, funny, and very hard to put down.

For just 99 cents on the iOS App Store and Android Play, it's a bargain. You can spend extra money through in-app purchases to unlock game content more quickly, but patient players will be able to unlock everything without spending anything on top of the initial purchase. That said, parents will want to make sure in-app purchases are password-locked before letting their kids play.

10 comments so far

"But a high score is achieved..." This is part of my irritation of iOS apps, the high score. It's why games like Temple Run, Jetpack Joyride and others never last long with me, because the boredom sets in for that all high score. The purchasing of boosts (with in-game money or IAPs) never satisfy the end purpose.

However, nice to highlight an Australian company making games; it's good to hear about these companies.

Commenter

Joka

Date and time

January 29, 2014, 9:03AM

I feel the same way about goals that are high score-only. I gave up on Temple Run after about 2 days of giving it a solid go. There's too much repetition not broken up by any tangible, rewarding targets. I'll try and draw a comparison to Angry Birds... When Angry Birds first came out though, I was all over that; each level had the same premise, but was different enough to be interesting. Whilst a 'high score' mechanism was employed, there was a target for each different level; an interesting goal. Granted, after a while there was Angry Birds saturation, and I lost interest in the premise of flicking birds around, but it was a good ride while it lasted.

Commenter

Schmole

Location

Sydney

Date and time

January 29, 2014, 12:43PM

@Joka/Schmole: I think the attitude to take on "high score" style games isn't really to have one long solid go but as small time killers that gets played in small doses. Play it for a few minutes to try and beat your score then try again later or another day. I think there is a temptation to go "OC" and keep plugging at the high score but that usually leads to "burning out" at how repetitive those games can be.

Commenter

RocK_M

Location

I want chinese take-away!

Date and time

January 29, 2014, 4:03PM

Depends on where you derive your enjoyment. I enjoyed Candy Crush for a long time as a small time waster, but I liked the fact there was a goal, and there was constantly progression to be made. Then I got sick of the basic premise, and quit it all together. Mind you, I enjoyed Jetpack Joyride for a long time as well, but to me that was more trying to increase ranks through the challenges, rather than trying to get particularly far. Guess it depends on what you look for in a game; I like goals/challenges and aiming for them. Even with a game like Stanley Parable that doesn't tend itself towards my desires in games, I turned the game into "find all the commentary / endings", "get all the achievements". I guess that's just how I enjoy gaming...

Commenter

Schmole

Location

Sydney

Date and time

January 29, 2014, 5:08PM

Glad to hear people are taking the time to make a well-themed tie in to cartoons; I was always under the impressions that childrens' shows get crappy work done on them because the kids who play the final game don't know any better. Is Adventure Time that popular though? I watched a few episodes at the request of a friend, but it wasn't my thing. My 13-year old brother loves it though!

Commenter

Schmole

Location

Sydney

Date and time

January 29, 2014, 9:03AM

Adventure Time is pretty popular. I have friends in their 20s who absolutely adore it. Some people like it cause it's weird whereas others like to watch it when *ahem* under the influence. I've watched a couple eps but don't have any real opinion on it.

Commenter

Raito

Date and time

January 29, 2014, 9:57AM

Adventure Time is one of those random series that grows on you.

It's the combination of pure randomness w/ elements of pop and game culture thrown in that really hooks you in.

Commenter

RocK_M

Location

I want chinese take-away!

Date and time

January 29, 2014, 4:12PM

My wife and I love it and we don't even have kids. It totally reminds me of being a primary school kid with a vivid imagination. We fought the blackberry bush for many a week at lunch with sticks and a leftover concrete pipe section. I think we got in trouble because the concrete pipe got damaged and was actually a part of some council work going on, I don't remember. But for us it was just a tool to crush the blackberries, because they were thorny and encroaching on where we liked to play.

That's kind of a weird explanation of where Adventure Time is coming from, but the content of each episode is pretty tight and well written, despite being based in these sorts of zany premises. They actually have a lot of world building and story arcs that give it continuity beyond jumpting from one random thing to another.

Commenter

Lucid Fugue

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

January 30, 2014, 9:16AM

sounds cool and all but I have to say I'd rather stick pins in my eye than play another runner game these days . just feels so tired and over done as a genre

Commenter

mongey

Date and time

January 29, 2014, 11:40AM

DexX, should we be worried that you appear to know all the names and places from Adventure Time? At least you're not a Bronie (are you?)Seriously though, I don't mind a bit of Jetpack or Temple Run on the train to and from work every day so I might just get this for a bit of variety.